Speculation: Another year of this Bluc **** (The 2024-25 season thread)

[dman3474]

Clarke should be on the half wall for one of the power plays, with either Drew or Spence on that point.

 

[unicornpig]

think pettersen is a good comp for gavikov. do it 6.5 by 5

 

[Chazz Reinhold]

16 stats: Can Connor McDavid become the NHL’s first $20 million player?

Plus Moritz Seider’s easing burden in Detroit, home-ice disadvantage in Utah, how multiple teams have adjusted amidst injuries and more.

www.nytimes.com

4. Quinton Byfield taking on bigger defensive challenge​

On a team with Anze Kopitar and Phillip Danault, it speaks volumes that Byfield is the one getting the majority of the team’s matchup minutes.

That’s something that really started in early January against the Lightning, a home game where Byfield played 13 minutes head-to-head against Nikita Kucherov, while Kopitar and Danault played just under five minutes combined.

Since that day, Byfield has played 93 minutes against the opposing team’s top forward while Kopitar has played 56 minutes and Danault has played 51 minutes. In terms of average Offensive Rating faced, Byfield is at plus-4.2 compared to Kopitar’s plus-2.3 and Danault’s plus-2.1. Big difference. Byfield has been the go-to shutdown guy and he’s getting the results to match with a 56 percent expected goals rate fueled by allowing just 2.0 xGA/60, both among the best marks on the team.

That’ll be an interesting development to watch down the stretch. Can Byfield’s emergence down the middle help solve the Kings’ McDavid-Leon Draisaitl problem in the playoffs?

5. Can Kevin Fiala have a second-half resurgence?​

Another thing that can help: getting the real Fiala back. He’s the closest thing the Kings have to a true offensive game-breaker, but he’s been way too quiet this season to earn that notion. Fiala has just 31 points in 49 games this season, a 52-point pace that would be his worst since 2018-19.

Under the hood, it’s business as usual for Fiala. At five-on-five he’s still pushing play, he’s still getting chances and he’s still scoring. Ditto for the power play. The problem has mostly been his teammates — at five-on-five they’ve scored on just 4.8 percent of their shots with Fiala on the ice. That’s the 25th-worst mark in the league with only two top-six players (Josh Norris and Nazem Kadri) above him.

That’s probably not Fiala’s fault either. According to data tracked by Corey Sznajder, Fiala is the team’s leader in scoring chance assists per 60 at 5.8. That’s one of the best marks in the league, comparable to elite playmakers such as Nikita Kucherov and Mitch Marner — his teammates just aren’t finishing.

Fiala is playing good hockey and it feels like the results will come soon.